Oil prices edged up on Wednesday on signs of short-term supply tightness but remained near a two-week low after OPEC lowered its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025.
Brent crude futures were up 13 cents, or 0.18%, at $72.02 a barrel by 0205 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 13 cents, or 0.19%, at $68.25.
But weaker demand projections and weakness in top consumer China continued to weigh on market sentiment.
In its monthly report on Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said global oil demand will rise by 1.82 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, down from the 1.93 million bpd growth forecast last month, largely due to weakness in China, the world's biggest oil importer.
Oil prices settled up 0.1% on Tuesday following the news, after falling about 5% over the previous two sessions.
OPEC also cut its estimate for global demand growth in 2025 to 1.54 million bpd from 1.64 million bpd.
However, the market will still feel the impact of any supply disruptions from Iran or further escalation between Iran and Israel, according to Barclays.
Two U.S. central bankers said on Tuesday that interest rates are acting as a brake on inflation that is still above 2%, suggesting the Federal Reserve is open to further rate cuts.
The Fed cut its policy rate last week by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 4.50%-4.75%. Interest rate cuts typically boost economic activity and energy demand.
Source: Investing.com
Oil headed for the biggest weekly loss since late June as traders positioned for a key OPEC+ decision on supply this weekend. Brent futures edged marginally higher on Friday, but were still...
Oil prices edged higher on Friday but remained on course for a weekly loss of about 7-8% after news of potential increases to OPEC+ supply. Brent crude futures gained 43 cents, or 0.67%, to $64.54 a ...
Oil was on track for the biggest weekly decline since late June, ahead of an OPEC+ meeting that's expected to result in the return of more idled barrels, exacerbating concerns around oversupply. ...
Oil prices fell about 2% to their lowest in four months on Thursday, extending a run of declines into a fourth day, due to concerns about oversupply in the market ahead of a meeting of the OPEC+ group...
Oil prices weakened on Thursday (October 2), extending their decline into a fourth day on concerns about oversupply in the market. Brent crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.6%, to $64.98 a barrel at 11:...
The S&P 500 closed mostly flat on Friday, the Dow Jones extended its record run, rising 240 points finisheing at 46,758 after briefly surpassing 47,000 during the session, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.3% as the US government shutdown entered its...
Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan struck a nervous tone on Friday, warning that despite a rapidly-weakening labor market, a lot of potential policy moves could accidentally spark another round of renewed inflationary...
If it just seems like the first Friday of the month wasn't the same without being able to pore through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' hotly watched monthly jobs report, don't worry. You probably didn't miss much. While the BLS has gone dark with...
The bottom line: The release of official US data is delayed because the federal government is currently in shutdown. While the budget hasn't been...
Asian markets opened higher, following a global rally that pushed world indexes to new records, despite the US entering its first government...
Europe's STOXX 600 closed at a record high on Wednesday, with healthcare stocks leading the way after a U.S.-Pfizer deal reduced uncertainty in the...
Wall Street's indexes closed at record highs on Wednesday, buoyed by strong sector performance and optimism that the US government shutdown will be...